Braiding machine



Jan. 4, 1949. P, B URN HAL 2,458,379

BRA'EDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 7,1947 s Sheets-Sheet 1 P. L. HOBOURN ET! AL Jan. 4, 1949.

BRAIDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 7, 1947 3 She ets-S heet 2 F IG PIC-1.5.

Patented Jan. 4, 1949 Percival Leonard .Hobourn, .Leamington Spa, and, Wil iam'HenmJo ove tr En n an ma ear! 1 1 sewp. we.

The present invention relates to braiding machines and is'primarily concerned with machines used for'the' braiding of nch-elastic (inelastic cores's'uch as the bra ding 'o'rwire er the 'production of elastic braid? The'present invention relates in particular to braiding machines for this purpose 'of the type in which a sinuous'path is imparted to the wanderer spindles by'meansof notched discscarryi ng's'anie. 'I-Iitherto br'aiding'mach'ii'ies of the type referred to have been provided with acontinuous "sinuous track adapted to be engaged by a mg or lugs formed at the lower end ofacli wanderer spindle and'the said wanderer spindles have been pro pelled around the said continuous track by ineans of notched'discs.

' ploying wanderer spindles itain January 15, 1946" teams. whet-.50)

2:1 and arranged, for produciri g fiat b'iaidi Referring toFigures ,1 to 3 the base member I is mounted on' them'a'chine bed 2 in" a horizontal manner said base memberlibeing' recessed at its upper side to form a shallow oil receptac1e'3i Arranged in said base member 1 area plurality of bushes "4 iadaptedlto' form bearings'for? the" sleeves 5 formedintegral witheachof the notched, discs 6, T, '8'} 9', I0," I13" Keyed. to "the lower ends" 1 of each of the sleeves 5 are gearsl2;t; I 3,! 4,. l5,

The disadvantage of the arrangement as at. v

present used is that-aconsiderable' amount of friction and wear'ta'k'e's place between the lugs of the Wanderers and thecontinuousgiiide track and also between the" flange faces er the" wen: derer spindles and the g'uide' 'tiackmete;

The obie'ctoi the pr sent invention is to dispenseiwitl i a continudus sinuous" trier-mes re; ducing a sourceof IrictioiiwitH seahsqtent reductionlo'f wear "and sewer 'riiuired t'd'drive L w. l -M t... .i. Mai- W" "The present invention is characterized by the r views o guide time members am' at; the

circumferential of the notched 1' derer. spindles between the said, adjq i fili t notched discs v i In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan view. of abase member of the improved braiding 'machine' according to the present invention. I

Figure 2 is a sectional view' similar to Figure 1 taken substantially 9n.the lin e ,ii ii of Figurea Figure 3 is a sectional View in elevation taken on the line iz'z'iiiof Figure 1',

Figure 4 is a p lan view oi on e of the change over guide track members pers'f Figures, 5 and 6 are cross sectional views on. the line 5 -5, 6,.6, of Figure AIBSPectivfilYu Figurefiisl'a .viewof. a. wander r spin adapte for use with braiding machines of the type with which the present invention is concerned, and

Figures 8 and 9 are sectional views on an enlarged scale of the lugged end of the wanderer engaging the aforesaid guide track members.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention applied to a braiding machine em- 16', IT, arranged' in geared .relationship,- Figure 2, I such that the said gears and .discs 'are "all driven in synchrony from adrivin'g'gear ,l 8 driven by an electric motor or=the like; "The sleeves 5 'are alsoprovide'd with lower" bearings I9;

Each wanderer spindle follows asinuouspathi and its transference from one diSCLtd thebtheri is effected by means of change over :guid'e track members'or inserts 25 mountedzin.the oil receptac1e'3 and positioned'underthe'said notched, discsat points. where their circumferences aref adjacent to each other. vThe arrangement being that the lug 26 formed at the lower end Tof each wandererspindle engages a change over insert; 25:. atthe same time .as theengaged notch. of the disc carrying' saidspindle comes opposite anotch in; an adiacentdisc; thenotchesibein suitab1 ,positioned andtspaced. Forexampleas;

shown inFigure ,1, the;wa-nderer spindle 122 car:

ried by, thewnotched disci8- is inapositionjust. after having been transierredtheretofrom the notched disc] by means otthe changeover n:

sert-ZE. Figure 9, show s on an enlargedscala; alu ZB eoia wandererspindle .ZZL'en asing-a .cross over insert 25.

For producing flat braid the arrangement is as shown i. e. change over inserts 25 are arranged between all the notched discs except between discs 5 and II, where a return insert 21 is provided so that a transfer is not effected between these discs. Thus by first following the arrows is retained on the'notched disc 6 at this point.-

For producing round braid the return insert 21 is replaced by a change over insert 25 whence a sinuous path of a more continuous nature is imparted to the wanderer spindles.

In either case the cores, which may be elastic.

are passed up the vertical tubes 28 to a common" eye in a gauge disc fixed about the longitudinal axis of the machine in accordance with established practice.

It will also be observed that in either case the lugs 26 of the wanderer spindles instead of being engaged by a continuous sinuous track are only engaged by the aforesaid inserts 25 or 21 for short periods thus the period of frictional wear is greatly reduced and moreover the provision of.

an oil receptacle enhances the longevity of the parts.

' Associated-with the thread tensioning means of each wanderer spindle 22 is a member 3| provided with a hook 32 engaged by the. thread 33 as it passes from the lower pigtail 34 to the upper pigtail 35.

In the event'of the thread 33 breaking, the member 3| descends the slot 36 of the thread tensioning means so that within the course of one cycle of the sinuouspath. of the Wanderer spindle the member 3| actuates the bar 31 of an I electric switch 38 controlling themachine motor to break the circuit thus stopping the machine.

In this way the occurrence of a broken thread is brought to notice and canv be readily attended to.

It will be appreciated thatwhereas the invention has been described with reference to a machine employing thirteen wanderer spindles the invention can be equally well applied to machines employing a greater or-less number of wanderer; spindles and a varying number and size of:

notched discs.

The arrangement described may form a unit of a series of units forming a complete machine v capable of simultaneously producing several lengths of braid; V

We claim: 5

1. Improvements connected with braiding mai chines comprising in combination a basememher; a plurality of circumferentially adjacent notched discs in driven geared relationship 1 mounted on said base member and adapted to engage only the bases of: each of the wanderer spindles and'carry same, the guidinglugs of said Wanderer spindles being free from bearing relationship over the major part. of their travel;

members adapted to circumferentially surroundsaid notched discs and lie in the same plane thereof to'retain said wanderer'spindles thereon and guide members mounted on said base memher under the circumferential junctions of the 5 notched discs at which point the guiding lugs of said wanderer spindles engage said guide members to effect directional control of said wanderer spindles. V

2. Improvements connected with braiding machines comprising in combination a base member; a plurality of circumferentially' adjacent notched discs in driven geared relationship mounted on said base member and adapted to I engage only the "bases of each of the wanderer spindles and carry same, the guiding lugs of said wanderer spindles being free from bearing relationship over the major part of their travel; a suitably shaped outer member adapted to intimately surround the outer circumferential portions of said-notched discs and lie in the same plane thereof to retain said wanderer spindles thereon; astarshaped inner member adapted to intimately surround the inner circumferential portions of said notched discs and lie in the same plane thereof to retain the wanderer spindles thereon; and guide members'mounted on said base member underthe circumferential; junctions of the notched discs at which points the 1 guiding lugs of said wanderer spindles engage said guide members to effect directional control of said wanderer spindles.

3. Improvements connected with braiding iria-.v chines comprising-in combination a base meme v her having a recess therein ,adapted to form an oil receptacle; a plurality of circumferentially adjacent notched discs in driven geared .rela-= tionship mounted on said ,basezmember above the recess thereof and adapted ito engage only thebases of the wanderer. spindles and carry same,

the guiding lugs of said wanderer spindles being free from bearing relationship over the major part of their travel; a suitably shaped outer cover member to saidbase recess adapted to intimately surround the outer circumferential portions of said notched discs and lie in the same plane.

thereof to retain said wanderer spindles thereon; a star shaped inner cover member adapted to intimately surround the inner circumferential portions of said notched discs and lie in the same plane thereof to retain said vwanderer spindles thereon; interchangeable guide members mount;

ed in the bottom of said base recess underthev circumferential junctions of said notched discs at which point theguiding lugs of ,said wanderer.

spindles engage said guide vmembers to effect. directional control of said wanderer spindlesl I PER'civAL LEONARD, HoBoURn.

WILLIAM HENRYJJOUY. REFERENCES o 'rED The following references are file of this patent: I

UNITED'sTATEs PATENTS Number Name 1,983,222 Gamba D ec. 4,1934

FOREIGN PATENTS I Number Country Date 154,782 Switzerland; Aug. 1,-19325 of record in the I x Date Germany Sept. 7;1920 

